Sheffield United boss provides firm answer on selection dilemma after "superb" Alfie Gilchrist omission

Chris Wilder will make a horses-for-courses selection call on which Sheffield United loanee will miss out on matchday squads for the rest of the season after Alfie Gilchrist was forced to watch Saturday’s victory over Portsmouth from the stands. The Blades have six temporary signings on their books after Rob Holding’s deadline-day arrival from Crystal Palace, with EFL rules only permitting five to be named on a teamsheet.

That meant Gilchrist missing out against Pompey as Holding, Ben Brereton Diaz, Hamza Choudhury, Harry Clarke and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi all featured, although Ipswich loanee Clarke struggled defensively against lively winger Josh Murphy. Femi Seriki’s return from injury in the next couple of weeks will only increase the options at Wilder’s disposal while Tom Davies will return to the squad for tomorrow night’s home clash with Middlesbrough.

Kieffer Moore is also on the comeback trail after undergoing successful surgery on a hernia issue recently, meaning some senior members of Wilder’s squad will be watching from the stands in the coming weeks. “Alfie's attitude has been absolutely superb,” Wilder said of the Chelsea man. “He needed to come out of the team.

“It was a tough gig for him for maybe two or three games. He’s a young player coming into Championship football and has played the majority of games. We knew we were slightly disadvantaged in terms of the loan ruling and the available slots. We had to make a decision.

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“He took that as I would have expected him to take it, in terms of the personality and the character of him and how he has been brought up. He was disappointed but there will be disappointed players right the way through. It is not about individuals. We talked about it and he has adapted to that situation.

"We're getting back to a fully fit squad. Kieffer's not far away, Tom will be involved on Wednesday night, Kieffer will be involved on Saturday, Femi is only a week or two away and Shacks [Jamie Shackleton] is back in full training.

“We only have Ollie Arblaster missing long-term so we have got 21 or 22 players to fit into 20. There are going to be some disappointed players that aren't getting on the bench, never mind not getting on the pitch. But I'd rather have it that way and I've been consistent with that right the way through."